US3237344A

US3237344A - Doll with sounding means

Info

Publication number: US3237344A
Application number: US354399A
Authority: US
Inventors: Robert K Ostrander
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1964-03-24
Filing date: 1964-03-24
Publication date: 1966-03-01
Anticipated expiration: 1983-03-01

Description

March 1, 1966 R. K. OSTRANDER DOLL WITH SOUNDING MEANS Filed March 24, 1964 March 1966 R. K. OSTRANDER DOLL WITH SOUNDING MEANS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 24, 1964 Amwsm United States Patent 3,237,344 DOLL WITH SOUNDING MEANS Robert K. Ostrander, 497 Prospect St., Maplewood, NJ. Filed Mar. 24, 1964, Ser. No. 354,399 9 Claims. (Cl. 46118) This invention relates to dolls which emit sounds upon actuation thereof by children, and more particularly, is concerned with a doll which emits during its operation a multisyllabic vocal sound simultaneously with movement of its lips. The instant invention is an improvement of my copending application, Serial No. 263,922 for Doll Having an Improved Mouth Together With Sounding Means and Lip Moving Mechanism Cooperable Therewith, filed March 8, 1963.

It is a principal object of my invention to provide a doll which when operated as by a small child utters a multisyllabic vocal sound that closely simulates typical identifiable sounds made by human infants or children of tender years.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a doll which emits a multisyllabic vocal sound while at the same time moving, i.e. opening and closing, its lips so that the articulation of said sound is coordinated and synchronized with said lip movement.

It is yet another object of my invention to provide a doll of the character described which pronounces a multisyllabic vocal sound that is closely imitative of a Ma- Ma or Pa-Pa utterance of a small child.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a doll of the character described which will emit a simulative Ma-Ma or Pa-Pa vocal sound while at the same time moving its lips so that it appears as if the doll is actually mouthing or speaking such syllables. The foregoing multisyllabic vocal sound is elfected by the passage of sound waves through a chamber by varying the shape of the chamber and by repetitively opening and closing a passageway from said chamber to the atmosphere, so that distinct articulation is produced.

It is another object of my invention to provide a doll of the character described which can issue both a simulative Ma-Ma and a simulative Pa-Pa sound, the selection of either of these sounds being determined by the easy manipulation of a hand operable valve means on the doll.

It is yet a further object of my invention touprovide a doll of the character described in which the vocally modulated multisyllabic sound is emitted from the dolls mouth cavity so that the tonal quality of the sound, the source of said sound, and the associated lip movement all combine to closely imitate an identifiable spoken multisyllabic sound emitted by a human child.

It is yet another object of my invention to provide a mouth cavity for a doll of the character described and an associated actuating mechanism which repeatedly changes the shape of the mouth chamber so that said chamber will articulately modulate sound waves which are passing therethrough.

It is yet another object of my invention to provide a doll of the character described in which the foregoing aims may be carried out by a relatively inexpensive mechanism which can be assembled at low cost so as to provide parents with a realistic Ma-Ma and/ or Pa-Pa sounding doll that will entertain their children for long periods of time, while yet being within the economic reach of said parents.

In general, I carry out the foregoing objects of my invention by providing a pair of separable lips integral with a mouth sac in a doll and providing an air-actuated sounding means which emits a noise through said mouth sac. In a preferred form, said sounding means comprises Patented Mar. 1, 19%6 an air stream under pressure which is continually forced through a noisemaker and thereafter through the mouth sac. A hand operable actuating mechanism is provided within the doll body which during the course of its operation by a small child, and during the aforesaid continual emission of noise, repetitively varies the shape of the mouth sac and opens and closes the dolls lips so that the tonal qualities of the noise emitted through said mouth sac will be continually varied. The continual and smooth opening and closing of the lips of the mouth of my doll during the passage of vocally modulated sound waves through the mouth sac and out through the parted lips produces distinct articulations. These are caused both by the relatively sudden expulsion of air from the sac upon the creation of an atmospheric passageway by the opening of the lips, as well as by the change in the shape of the mouth sac which alters the resonant and tonal qualities of the emitted expression.

Although I have disclosed my invention below in its presently preferred form, it will be realized that simple mechanical changes 'in the arrangements for varying the shape of the mouth sac still remain within the scope thereof.

Other objects of my invention in part will be obvious and in part will be pointed out hereinafter.

My invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangements of parts which will be exemplified in the doll and actuating mechanism hereinafter described and of which the scope of application will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, in which I have shown one of the various possible embodiments of my invention,

FIG. 1 is a front fragmentary perspective view of a dolls head and upper torso, the front wall of the torso being partially broken away to reveal the operating levers which .are a part of the actuating mechanism incorporated in the doll and which are shown in idle position;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view similar to that illustrated in FIG. 1 but with the operating levers being shown in dash lines, and the actuating mechanism being operated by a hand of a child, and further showing the mouth of the doll at an intermediate stage in the operation of the actuating mechanism;

FIG. 3 is a front fragmentary perspective view of the top portion of the actuating mechanism as it appears when removed from the doll;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view taken substantially along the line 44 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a vertical front-to-back fragmentary enlarged sectional view of the dolls head and actuating mechanism, taken through the center of the substantially closed lips illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary side-to-side sectional view taken substantially along the line 6-6 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary side-to-side sectional view of the mouth sac taken substantially along the line 7-7 of FIG. 5;

FIGS. 8-10 are fragmentary enlarged front-to-back sectional views of the dolls head and actuating mechanism similar to FIG. 5, each taken at a different successive stage in the operation of the actuating mechanism; and

FIG. 11 is a fragmentary plan view of a valve means located in the torso of the doll.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, the reference numeral 10 denotes a doll which is of conventional construction except for the construction that I have provided to enable the doll to utter a multisyllabic vocal sound.

Said doll includes a hollow torso 12 of standard and conventional design having an open-ended neck 14 on which a hollow head 16 is mounted. The torso is made of a flexible material, for example, natural or artificial rubber or polyvinyl chloride or other known plastics having similar elastomeric characteristics, so that the torso can be partially collapsed by squeezing the same, as by a human hand. The doll can be fabricated in any customary manner, i.e. by slush, rotational or injection molding. The torso material is soft and resilient whereby it will spring back to its as-molded shape after it is squeezed and then released. This construction is preferable since the body of the doll functions as a hollow chamber having at least one resilient wall that can be squeezed for the purpose of operating the actuating mechanism as well as for the purpose of operating the sounding means. It will be appreciated that extreme flexibility is not needed for these purposes, and it will suffice if the torso 12 is readily yieldable to the amount of pressure which can be easily exerted by the hand of a child. The torso is, of course, provided with the usual arms 18 and legs (not shown) which may be connected thereto in any suitable fashion. Due to the fact, as has been previously mentioned, that the torso is intended to function as a hollow chamber, the torso is not apertured at the arm or leg connections, as is common in some types of dolls.

The head 16 is molded from a soft, flexible, resilient material such, for instance, as polyvinyl chloride. I prefer to make the head by slush molding from a plastisol since not only does this permit me to attain a skin which is warm and realistic to the touch and closely simulative to a human childs face, but it also enables me to impart a dead soft quality to the skin of the dolls head. This is a flexible resilient quality that enables the skin to be deformed with great ease upon the application of an external force but causes the skin to return to its original as-molded shape when such force is released. Such dead soft quality permits ready movement (opening or closing) of the lips upon energization of the actuating mechanism and its use for this purpose is known to the art.

The head includes the usual features, to wit, eyes 20 in eye sockets, a nose 22 and hair 24. The head further includes a pair of separate lips constituting an upper lip 26 and a lower lip 28. These lips are in the shape of human lips and therefore protrude slightly along the lip lines and are joined only at the corners of the mouth. As shown in FIG. 5, the lips are molded so that the lower lip is displaced slightly to the rear of the upper lip to achieve a slightly smiling or amused expression.

The

lips

26, 28 are molded so that they are slightly parted at their mutual center even when other side portions of the lips meet. For this purpose, a small frontto-back opening, i.e. shallow channel, 30 is defined in the center of the lips, even when the lips are otherwise substantially closed.

Molded in one piece with the head 16 and with its forward edges joined integrally with the rear edges of the

lips

26, 28, is a hollow mouth sac 32 which, accordingly, is likewise of dead soft quality. Said sac extends rearwardly from an open forward end at the lips into the interior of the hollow head. The surface of the sac 32 which faces the interior of the head will hereinafter be referred to as the exterior surface of the sac while the surface of the sac which faces and defines the mouth cavity will be referred to as the interior surface of the sac.

The mouth sac 32 is of a bulbous contour with a neck, i.e. a reduced forward open end of the sac, adjacent and joined to the lips so that the bulbous profile in effect consists of walls that flare rearwardly from the inner surfaces of the lips. The roof and floor of the mouth sac, as well as its side walls, flare away from one another in a direction rearwardly of the lips until said walls converge to define a rear end for the sac.

In its as-molded shape, the material from which the mouth sac 32 is formed may not be sufliciently firm to maintain its desired configuration, particularly in view of opposing pressures generated by the actuating mechanism.

Therefore, to produce and maintain this desirable bulbous configuration, forming means is utilized to keep the sac in its expanded shape. To this end, a forming spring insert 34 is located within the sac 32.

In a preferred form of my invention, said insert 34 constitutes a leaf spring, to wit, a strip of band spring steel stock which in relaxed condition is roughly C-shaped in profile. Specifically, the leaf spring in its unstressed state includes an approximately circular segment extending over about 270 degrees. Said segment terminates in forwardly extending reaches 36 each of which is immediately rearward of an associated

lip

26, 28.

The spring insert 34 is weak enough to permit the reaches 36 and thus the

lips

26, 28 to be quite easily flexed into contact with one another. However, the spring insert is sufiiciently strong to vertically spread the neck of the sac when no other forces are applied to the sac, that is to say, when the actuating mechanism permits the lips to move apart.

The forming insert 34 is located in the sac to engage the roof and floor and rear end thereof and to vertically spread the sac into a firm bulbous shape as shown in FIGS. 5 and 7-10. In this shape, the mouth sac 32 is configured to engage the forward ends (jaws) of the actuating mechanism.

Means is provided for preventing the forming insert 34 from being deliberately or accidentally displaced as if a child, for example, should poke an implement into the dolls mouth. Said means comprises a rivet 38 which has its head located within the mouth sac and its shank extending through an opening in the rear of the insert 34, through a registered opening in the rear of the mouth sac 32 and which has the tip of its shank projecting into the hollow interior of the head. The rivet is held in place by a friction nut 40 which engages the projecting rear end of the shank.

Sounding means is provided and located so as to emit a sound when a stream of air passes from the mouth sac 32 outwardly through the

lips

26, 28, when the lips are parted. To this end, the sounding means is mounted directly on the mouth sac and consists of a simple conventional noisemaker 42. The sounds emitted by such noisemakers are ordinarily raucous and are not particularly pleasing to the ear nor are they closely simulative to a sound emitted by a human child. However, with the location of the sounding means at the mouth sac 32, the otherwise unattractive sound is altered to a pleasant tonal quality.

The noisemaker 42 is preferably of the reed type and consists of a tubular casing 44 having one externally annularly grooved end captively secured in an aperture 46 provided in a side wall of the mouth sac 32. Supported within the casing is a conventional reed of the squawker type which emits a noise upon passage of air over the reed in one direction only. The noisemaker 42 is situated to emit sound only upon passage of air from the torso cavity through the noisemaker 42 into the mouth sac 32. Although air is free to pass from the mouth sac through the noisemaker and into the torso cavity, no noise is emitted upon air passage in this direction.

The body cavity is imperforate except for the aperture 46 and except for valve means subsequently to be described so that when the torso 12 or the head 16 of the doll is squeezed, air from the torso will pass through the noisemaker.

The

lips

26, 28 are urged by the reaches 36 of the insert 34 into a rather widely parted position. In the fully opened or parted position of the lips, which they would assume under the influence of the spring insert 34 were no other forces exerted thereon, the lips would be slightly more extensively spread apart, e.g. about A of an inch more, depending upon the size of the dolls head, than would seem to be natural. However, the actuating mech anism biases the lips to a substantially closed position (closed except for the channel 30), the bias being sufliciently strong to overcome the opening bias of the forming.

insert so that when the actuating mechanism is idle the lips will be closed as shown in FIGS. 1 and 5. When the actuating mechanism is at an intermediate stage in its operation as shown in FIG. 8 or in a terminal position as shown in FIG. 10, the lips are open to the maximum extent permitted by said mechanism, being so urged by the forming insert 34. When the actuating mechanism is manipulated to spread its forward ends (jaws) to their maximum extent as shown in FIGS. 8 and 10, the lips are spaced apart a distance less than the maximum vertical dimension of the bulging sac so that the jaws of the actuating mechanism, cannot slip rearwardly off the sac.

The actuating mechanism, designated by reference numeral 48 and. which is shown apart from the doll in FIG. 3, include two operating levers, to wit, a forward operating lever 50 and a rear operating lever 52. The term forward lever designates that lever which is actuated by the force exerted by a childs hand on the front wall of the torso of the doll and the term rear lever designates the lever which is operated by the force exerted by a childs hand on the back wall of the torso of the doll (see FIG. 2).

The forward lever 50 includes a basically vertical reach 54 which terminates at its bottom end at a handle 56. The rear lever 52 also includes a basically vertical reach 58 which terminates at its bottom end in a handle 60. Each of the

handles

56, 60 is broad and flat. When the actuating mechanism 48 is in a position of repose, the handles are spaced sufficiently apart so that each rests lightly against its aifiliated torso wall.

The two

operating levers

50, 52 are suitably interconnected by pivotal means for relative rotation about a transversely disposed horizontal axis located rearwardly and downwardly from the mouth sac 32. Said pivotal means is, in a preferred form of my invention, centered from sideto-side within the head cavity. Specifically, said pivotal means constitutes a rivet 62 which has an enlarged head located on an exposed side of one of the levers, which has a shank that passes through aligned apertures 64 in the levers and. which has the end of its shank peened on the exposed side of the other lever.

For the purpose of economy and. simplicity of fabrication, the operating levers as well as other parts of the actuating mechanism 48 are fashioned from sheet metal which may be reinforced at various points by stiffening ribs (not shown).

Means is included to bias the lower terminal portions, to wit, the

handles

56, 60 of the operating levers apart from one another with a force sumcient to overcome the opening bias of the forming insert 34. Said biasing means constitutes a torsion spring 66 which includes a central single turn coil 68 and two downwardly extending reaches 70, 72. Each reach 70, 72 terminates in an offset end which passes through an aperture in its associated lever adjacent the handle of said lever. This engagement of the offset end of each reach with a lever retains the spring 66 in place.

FIG. 1 illustrates the position of the spring and the handles wherein the actuating mechanism is in a position of repose. FIG. 2 illustrates an operative position of the mechanism wherein the handles have been brought closer together.

The upper portion of the rear lever 52 supports two jaws, to wit, an upper jaw 74 which is associated with the upper lip 26 and the roof of the mouth sac 32 and a lower jaw 76 which is associated with the lower lip 28 and the floor of the mouth sac 32. The upper jaw 74 is stationary, being fixed to the lever 58 by a forwardly extending horizontal reach 78. Said jaw is transversely elongated (see FIG. 6) and is provided with a lower slightly downwardly convex forward edge 80, the outer ends of which constitute transversely extending tabs 82 (see FIG. 3).

The lower jaw 76 is movable, being carried by a forwardly extending reach 86 projecting from a rocker arm 84. The lower jaw 76 terminates in a forwardly and upwardly sloping front edge 88. The front edge 88 of the lower jaw carries transversely and upwardly extending tabs 90. As is illustrated in FIG. 6, the forward edge of the upper jaw 74 and the forward edge 88 of the lower jaw 76 have substantially matched fiat and transversely elongated contours, with the tabs 90 of the lower front edge 88 extending somewhat around the tabs 82 of the upper jaw 74. The mentioned extension of the lower front edge 88 retains the actuating mechanism in its proper horizontal position around the mouth sac.

The front-to-back configuration of the upper jaw 74 is downwardly concave and the front-to-back configuration of the lower jaw 76 is upwardly concave so that, as illustrated in FIG. 5, each of the jaws has substantially the same contour as that portion of the mouth sac 32 which it abuts in repose. More specifically, the upper jaw 74 has a contour which matches the curved contour of the forward quadrant of the sac 32 and the lower jaw 76 has a contour which matches the forward quadrant of the floor of the mouth sac 32.

Cam means is provided to repetitively reciprocate the

jaws

74 and 76 toward and away from one another during a single cycle of operation of the actuating mechanism 48. Said cam means includes a transversely elongated camming surface 92 formed on the upper forwardly elongated end 94 of the forward lever 50. The terminal limits of said camming surface 92 are defined by upwardly protruding stops 96 between which said camming surface 92 extends. Said camming surface 92 further includes two rises 98, 100, a dwell 102 and two falls, 104, and 106.

More specifically, and describing the camming surface 92 from front to rear as seen in FIGS. 5 and 810, the stop 96 fixes the forward limit of the camming surface. The dwell 102 comprises the beginning of the camming surface, after which follows the first rise 98, after which follows the first fall 104, after which follows the second rise 100, and after which follows the second fall 106. The rear stop 96 fixes the back limit of the camming surface 92. The low point on each of the

falls

104, 106 is each approximately the same distance from the pivot point 62, and the high point on each of the rises 98, is each approximately the same distance from the pivot point. The dwell 102 is the same distance from the pivot 62 as the high points of the rises.

A follower 108 rides along the camming surface 92 and shifts the jaws away from and toward one another. Said follower includes a rivet 110 which has a shank 112 that is slidable in a Vertical guide slot 114 formed in the upper end of the rear lever 52. The rivet shank 112 carries a narrow roller 116 (see FIG. 4) which rides on the camming surface 92. A washer 118 of larger diameter than the roller 116 overlies the camming surface 92 on the exposed surface of the upper end of the rear lever 52 and is located adjacent the head 120 of the rivet 110. The other end of the shank 112 passes through an aperture 122 in a follower link 124. The end of the shank 112 is peened over the exposed side of the follower link 124 as at 126, and the follower link is laterally spaced from the upper end of the rear lever 52 by another washer 128 through which the shank 112 also passes.

As has been just described, the upper end of the follower link 124 is pivotally connected to the follower 108. The lower end of the follower link is pivotally connected to the movable rocker arm 84 which carries the lower jaw. The last-named pivotal connection is made by a rivet 130 whose head 132 is located on the exposed side of the follower link 124, whose shank passes through aligned apertures in the link and in the arm 84, and whose tip is peened over the internal surface of the rocker arm 84 so as to complete the aforesaid connection.

The rocker arm 84 is pivoted on a somewhat rearwardly extending upper protrusion 134 of the rear lever 52. The latter pivotal connection is of the same type as the pivotal connection just described in connection with the 7 follower link 124, to wit, a rivet 136 has its head disposed on the exposed side of the arm 84, has its shank passing through aligned apertures in the arm and in the lever protrusion 134 and has the tip of its shank peened over the internal side of said protrusion.

Valve means may be provided at any convenient loca tion on the torso 12 of the doll to permit limited passage of air from the torso cavity to the atmosphere. A suitable location for said valve means is on the back of the torso adjacent one of its shoulders. The valve means comprises an eyelet 138 which defines a small opening 140 through which air can pass from the interior of the torso to the exterior thereof, i.e. to the atmosphere. A small flap 142 is pivoted as at 144 and is shiftable between a position clear of the opening 140 (as shown in solid lines in FIG. 11) and a second position (as shown in dot-and-dash lines in FIG. 11) in which it overlies so as to block said opening. A small nib 146 extends outwardly and away from the flap 142 and constitutes a handle by which the flap may be urged as by the fingers of a child to either of its positions.

To operate the doll, a child simply squeezes the torso from the front and back, as is most clearly illustrated in FIG. 2.

The actuating mechanism 48 and the position of the

lips

26, 28 in repose, i.e. idle position, is illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 5. In said position, the

handles

56, 60 are adjacent and, optimally, lightly resting against the inner surfaces of the torso 12 so that the bottom portions of the operating levers are spread to their furthest position distant from one another. The handles are biased toward this position by the force of the spring 66. The maximum open position of the handles is defined by abutment of the roller 116 against the forward stop 96.

The force of the spring 66 also urges the top portions of the levers (above the pivot) apart from one another so that the follower 108, slidable in the guide slot 114, is pressed against the forward stop 96 while it lies on the dwell 102. The follower 108 holds the follower link 124 in an elevated position in which the upper and

lower jaws

74, 76 have their

forward edges

80, 88 closely adjacent one another. The front edges of the jaws lightly squeeze and constrict the neck of the mouth sac, so that the major portion of the lips abut one another. However, as has been stated previously, a small shallow opening 30 still exists therein and permits limited passage of air from the sac through the now-constricted neck to the atmosphere. FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate the positions of the constricted neck and the jaws in repose.

It will be recalled at this point that although the forming insert 34 biases the

lips

26, 28 and the roof and floor of the mouth sac 32 apart, this biasing force is less than that exerted by the torsion spring 66. However, as soon as a childs hand pushes the

handles

56 and 60 together by gripping and squeezing the doll torso, force is exerted against the torsion spring 66 so as to allow the forming insert 34 to spread the lips of the mouth and the roof and floor of the mouth sac apart.

As the torso of the doll is initially squeezed, air pressure is built up internally. This air pressure is largely retained therein, as at this point the lips are substantially closed. As the squeezing is continued thereafter and due to the dwell 102 the lips remain closed and pressure build up continues although slightly relieved by the channel 30.

As the

handles

56, 60 continue to be squeezed together and simultaneously with the continuous building up of air pressure the upper portions of the operating levers 50, 52 move toward one another so that the follower 108 shifts from the dwell 102 to the first rise 98. Since the dwell 102 and the first rise 98 are substantially equally distant from the pivot point 62, no movement is imparted to the rocker arm 84, because the follower link 124 is not shifted upwardly or downwardly. Thereby, the lips remain substantially closed while air pressure is built up within the torso cavity. Since the lips are not parted, the neck of the mouth sac is substantially blocked so that such a small quantity of air is free to flow that no sound is created.

As the

handles

56, 60 continue to be brought closer to one another and the upper ends of the levers rotate toward one another, the follower 108 drops into the first fall 104. As the follower 108 so descends, the follower link 124 is permitted to shift downwardly in the slot 114 by the biasing action of the spring insert 34 on the rocker arm 84 (pivoted on the rivet 136) so that the lower end of the follower link at allows the rocker arm to rotate downwardly and the lower jaw 76 to move away from the upper jaw 74. The just described position of the actuating mechanism and the mouth sac 32 is most clearly illustrated in FIG. 8.

During such movement the shape of the cavity defined by the mouth sac 32 has been rapidly altered so that the neck previously blocked by the closed lips now assumes a shape which has a vertical dimension only slightly less than the greatest vertical dimension of the sac. The lips have moved to a position wherein they are widely parted.

At the first instant when the lips are yet only somewhat parted and are moving to a fully open position, the air under pressure in the torso cavity and mouth sac bursts therefrom through the open mouth to atmosphere. The stream of air caused thereby passes through the noisemaker and generates a noise that passes through the sac and out through the mouth. The initial burst of air from the mouth creates a high level of noise the high frequency components of which are muted by the soft walls of the sac into a softer and pleasanter sound. Such sound is modulated by the changing shape of the sac and is brought about by the operating mechanism into a vocal speechlike stopped articulation which closely simulates a mute In. Although the intensity of the air pressure thereafter decreases as the lips are moved further apart, the squeezing of the torso continues to produce a stream of air through the noisemaker. The air pressure decreases from the relatively high level of the pulse which produced the m sound, to a lower level slightly above atmosphere which produces a lower level noise that is dampened by the soft walls of the sac and is transmuted by the changing shape of the sac and opening configuration of the lips into a drawn out monotone ah exhalation.

The sound generated by the actuating mechanism 48 as thus far operated is imitative of the first Ma sound of a child uttering the word Ma-Ma.

As the actuating mechanism 48 continues to be operated by the further squeezing of the handles, and the upper ends of the operating levers center on one another, the follower 108 leaves the first fall 104 and climbs to the second rise 100. This position of the mechanism is illustrated in FIG. 9.

The ascension of the follower 108 causes the follower link 124 to again rise in the guide slot 114 so that the rocker arm 84 is rotated upwardly about the pivot 136 and reaches a position wherein the

jaws

74, 76 are again adjacent and are in a position similar to their position of repose (compare FIGS. 5 and 9).

The lips again block the neck of the mouth sac (except for the channel 30), and the passage of air is substantially stopped so that a noiseless very brief pause ensues.

As the actuating mechanism 48 approaches the end of its operating cycle, follower 108 descends into the second and final fall 106 and is prevented from further movement thereafter by the back stop 96. In the mornentary noiseless interim, air pressure has again built up. Now the follower 108 again permits the roof and floor of the mouth sac 32 to expand and the lips to unblock the neck of the sac so that another labial articulation is produced by the recreated stream of air. The final Ma syllable of the Ma-Ma cry of a child is thereby simulated (see FIG. 10).

The channel 30 aids in realistically simulating the mute m sounds by reducing the slopes of the wavepoints of the pulses of air, and hence the initial high level pulses of noise. However, even with said channel omitted a clearly recognizable m articulation is obtained.

Upon release of the doll, the torsion spring 66 forces the

handles

56, 60 apart and overcomes the biasing force of the forming insert 34 so that the mechanism reverses the just described cycle and returns to a position of repose, after which the Ma-Ma cry can be produced again. Since the noisemaker 42 will emit sound only upon flow of air from the torso into the mouth sac and not upon the reverse flow, no further noise is emitted while the actuating mechanism resumes its idle or repose position.

Valve means, illustrated in FIG. 11, selectively permits a somewhat restricted relief flow of air out of the torso while the actuating mechanism is being operated so that while air pressure is being built up within the torso, part of the air is expelled through the opening 140 as well as through the mouth sac 32. Said valve means may be opened or closed by a child by simply pushing on the nib 146 so as to shift the flap 142 away from overlapping said opening. When the opening 140 is uncovered, it is found that two slightly lower and less explosive air pressures are created in the body cavity and the syllables produced by the actuating mechanism and the noisemaker in the mouth sac imitate the Pa-Pa sound emitted by a small child.

Although I have shown and described herein one specific arrangement for obtaining a multisyllabic vocal sound by continually actuating a sounding means while repeatedly varying the shape of the mouth sac and opening and closing the lips, it will be understood that alternative constructions will enable my invention to be carried out with satisfactory results. For instance, I may employ a doll in which an energy storing mechanism such as a flywheel is set into motion upon a first single squeeze so as to continually emit sound while the mouth sac and lips are repeatedly opened by subsequent squeezes. Likewise the sound issuing from the sounding means may be repetitively varied in manners other than that illustrated, as by altering the cam action in sundry fashion or by moving a tongue flap.

It will be appreciated that I have provided a mouth and sounding means structure in a doll that closely duplicates the equivalent mouth structure in a human being. By doing the same, the vocal sounds produced by an embodiment of my invention are simulative of the sounds emitted by a child of tender years. More specifically, I provide a reed type sounding means and a stream of air produced by a body cavity which are like the larynx and the lungs of a natural person; I provide a resonant mouth cavity in the doll which is similar to the oral cavity of a human; and I provide separable lips and a mouth cavity of variable configuration to modulate the sound emanating from the larynx and converted into multisyllabic articulations by the doll in a way simulative of the operation of the human lips, teeth and oral cavity as they combine to produce identifiable sounds.

It thus will be seen that I have provided a device which achieves the several objects of my invention and which is well adapted to meet the conditions of practical use.

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention, and as various changes might be made in the embodiment set forth, it is to be understood that all matter herein described or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent,

1. In combination in a doll, a dolls head having a flexible resilient face including a pair of separable lips and a flexible resilient hollow mouth sac disposed internally of the head with an open front end integrally joined to the lips, sounding means within the doll and in sound transmitting connection with the interior of the sac remotely from the open front end thereof for emitting, when actuated, a noise through said mouth sac and through the lips, means to actuate the sounding means, and manually operable means for in one continuous operation repetitively varying the internal configuration of the mouth sac and at the same time opening and closing the lips while continually actuating the sounding means so as to utter a multisyllabic vocal sound.

2. In combination in a doll, a dolls head having a face of flexible resilient material including a pair of separable lips and a flexible resilient hollow mouth sac disposed internally of the head with an open front end integrally joined to the lips, air actuable sounding means within the doll and in sound transmitting connection with the interior of the sac remotely from the open front end thereof for emitting, when actuated, a noise through said mouth sac and through the separated lips, air pressure generating means to actuate the sounding means, and manually operable means for in one continuous operation repetitively varying the internal configuration of the mouth sac and simultaneously repetitively opening and closing the lips of the doll while continually actuating the sounding means so as to utter a multisyllabic vocal sound.

3. A combination as set forth in claim 2 wherein the mouth sac is of bulbous configuration.

4. A combination as set forth in claim 2 wherein the sounding means comprises a reed-type noisemaker in communication with the mouth sac and wherein the sound actuating means includes an air chamber in communication with the noisemaker.

5. In combination in a doll, a dolls head having a face of flexible resilient material including a pair of separable lips and a flexible resilient hollow mouth sac disposed internally of the head with an open front end integrally joined to the lips, air actuable sounding means within the doll for emitting, when actuated, a noise through said mouth sac and through the separated lips, an air chamber within the doll communicating with said sounding means, means for selectively contracting said chamber so as to cause an elevated air pressure therein, means providing a path of travel for a stream of air from the chamber through the sounding means to the mouth sac remotely from the open front end of said sac and out through the separated lips, said lips being movable between a closed position substantially blocking said path and an open position leaving said path clear, and manually operable means for in one continuous operation varying the internal configuration of the mouth sac and simultaneously repetitively opening and closing the lips and actuating the selective contracting means so that when the lips are closed the flow of the stream of air is restrained while air pressure in the chamber and mouth sac builds up and when the lips open a pulse of air flows through the sounding means to generate a pulse of sound that is modulated by the changing configuration of the mouth sac and the lips so that the doll utters a multisyllabic vocal sound.

6. A combination as set forth in claim 5 wherein the lips when closed provide a small opening between the mouth sac and the atmosphere to leak air pressure whereby to prevent the emission of unduly explosive pulses of sound from the doll.

7. A combination as set forth in claim 5 wherein handoperable valve means selectively permits a restricted flow of air from the air chamber to the atmosphere whereby to decrease the air pressure generated in the air chamber.

8. A combination as set forth in claim 5 wherein spring means is included to bias the mouth sac to an expanded condition and the lips to an open position and wherein the manually operable means includes cam means selectively repetitively permitting the sac to expand and thereafter contracting the sac and selectively repetitively permitting the lips to open and thereafter closing the lips.

9. A combination as set forth in claim 5 wherein the air chamber is formed by the torso and head of the doll, said torso having at least one flexible resilient wall, and wherein 1 1 12 the chamber is contracted by squeezing the torso including 3,005,283 10/ 1961 Cohn .46171 said wall. 3,054,215 9/ 1962 Neumann 461 18 References Cited by the Examiner 36 FORELGN PATENTS 948, 7 1 1949 rance. UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 1,167,346 7/1958 France. 2,098,925 11/1937 Schaeffer 46118 2,778,155 1/ 1957 Ostrander 46-135 RICHARD C. PINKHAM, Primary Examiner.

Claims

1. IN COMBINATION IN A DOLL, A DOLL''S HEAD HAVING A FLEXIBLE RESILIENT FACE INCLUDING A PAIR OF SEPARABLE LIPS AND A FLEXIBLE RESILIENT HOLLOW MOUTH SAC DISPOSED INTERNALLY OF THE HEAD WITH AN OPEN FRONT END INTEGRALLY JOINED TO THE LIPS, SOUNDING MEANS WITHIN THE DOLL AND IN SOUND TRANSMITTING CONNECTION WITH THE INTERIOR OF THE SAC REMOTELY FROM THE OPEN FRONT END THEREOF FOR EMITTING, WHEN ACTUATED, A NOISE THROUGH SAID MOUTH SAC AND THROUGH THE LIPS, MEANS TO ACTUATE THE SOUNDING MEANS, AND MANUALLY OPERABLE MEANS FOR IN ONE CONTINUOUS OPERATION REPETITIVELY YARYING THE INTERNAL CONFIGURATION OF THE MOUTH SAC AND AT THE SAME TIME OPENING AND CLOSING THE LIPS WHILE CONTINUALLY ACTUATING THE SOUNDING MEANS SO AS TO UTTER A MULTISYLLABLIC VOCAL SOUND.